


Failure, Flowers and (maybe) Friendship

by SentientGlitch



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Gen, mentioned Hattori Heiji - Freeform, mentioned canon typical murder/suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 14:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18470629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SentientGlitch/pseuds/SentientGlitch
Summary: Kaito doesn't like to think about the necessary evils of detective work- he prefers situations where everyone who goes into something comes out at the end.Somehow it had escaped him that detectives would think the same.(Written for the Sagukai Creations Challenge Round 2)





	Failure, Flowers and (maybe) Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the Sagukai Creations Challenge on Tumblr.
> 
> The theme was "Colors" and my personal prompt was "Lavender".

Not hanging out with detectives was going to be one of Kaito’s newest rules. Or, barring that, not going on extended trips with detectives. Apparently Tantei-kun was not the only one whose detective resume consisted of cases that had basically fallen into his lap, but Kaito did note with some relief that based on Hakuba’s reaction this wasn’t really a normal occurrence for him either.

Which lead to the question: where’d the irritating blonde go?

Kaito glanced around, taking in the cops, guests and assorted onlookers in the courtyard of the house Hakuba had been invited to on his father’s accord. He only had a bit of time before the police realized he had already given his statement and shooed him away and Kaito wanted to be out of there before any more attention could be brought to him. The presence of the police was setting off his thief instincts and, although he was not currently doing anything wrong, listening to his instincts typically brought him in the correct direction. If it weren’t for the fact that the police had confiscated his phone for the photos he would have texted Hakuba his goodbyes and been done with the night, but he wasn’t about to leave without telling the detective and risk getting chewed out by Aoko for not communicating.

To his lack of surprise the heads around him were either covered in hats or the darker hair colors common to Japan rather than the brighter more outstanding hue of his classmate, which meant Hakuba was probably still finishing up some deduction or testimony stuff inside of the house. Kaito groaned softly but started shifting towards the door, no one noticing or bothering an unassuming teen as he slipped into what Kaito knew was still technically a crime scene.

It wasn’t until he had checked the living area, victim’s room and bathroom that he realized this might not be quite as simple as he had assumed. The officers he asked claimed they had already asked Hakuba about everything they needed and had let him go. Their suggestions that Hakuba had already gone home and that Kaito do the same were tempting, but Kaito knew better than to think that always-perfect-gentleman Hakuba would just leave him there without a phone or a word otherwise. That said deduction was not Kaito’s strong suit and he found himself wandering the house, hoping to come across his wayward rival.

Hakuba turned out to have been in the garden, looking contemplatively down at the large koi pond that had been the location of Masahiro Kiyoko’s suicide a little over a year ago. Kaito winced, wondering what it was about detectives and hanging around places people had died, but he put on a half grin and took a few steps into the garden. “I’m guessing that didn’t quite go how you were expecting.”

He had thought Hakuba would have already noticed him approaching, but at the way he jumped when Kaito spoke it was clear he had been wrong about that. The detective turned on his heel, clasping his hands together behind his back as he did so. “My apologies Kuroba-kun. I suppose you’ll be wanting to go.”

Kaito of course, being both contrary and curious, was not about to tell Hakuba that leaving was the reason he had come looking for him. “I wanted to check this place out actually.” He shook his head as he lied. “Masahiro-san talked it up so much, but I didn’t get a chance to come earlier with what was going on.”

“Ah. My apologies.” Hakuba turned back to the pond and looked back down, once again taking up whatever carp viewing vigil he had been at when Kaito first arrived.

It was a few moments of silence before Kaito realized Hakuba had decided to leave him to “check the place out” on his own which, while thoughtful, was not going to be conducive to either of Kaito’s goals of “leave” and “find out what Hakuba is doing”. He walked forward the few steps it took to reach the edge of the pond and stood next to the detective, glancing at the other’s face through his own thin fringe. Hakuba’s lips were pursed and his eyes were half narrowed and unfocused, so whatever it was the detective was doing it clearly didn’t have anything to do with the fish.

Kaito sighed, kicking at some of the purple flowers around the edge of the pond. “You know you don’t have to apologize for not knowing why I was here. You’re a detective, not a mind reader”

“I was actually referring to the night’s events.” Hakuba admitted, causing Kaito to look at him. “Had I suspected what was going to occur I would not have so simply agreed to your company tonight.”

That did cause Kaito to frown. “If you had known what was going to happen I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have happened.”

“Are you?” Hakuba looked over at him, meeting Kaito’s eyes with a guarded look. “Regardless of how he made it seem Takeshi-san had been planning tonight’s events long before the night began. From the moment we walked in until the moment he committed the crime his plan was in place and could have been stopped. The inconsistencies were present, and if I had noticed them sooner Harajime-san may have been saved regardless of what I knew or didn’t know when I walked in the door. But I didn’t do anything, and she died. Who’s to say things would have been different if I had come here with the suspicion that something was going to happen?”

Kaito blinked. Not quite what he had been expecting. “Uh, it sounds to me like you’re giving yourself a bit too much credit there dude. You’d basically have to be psychic in order to have seen that coming before it happened.”

Hakuba pursed his lips further and turned back to the pond, this time looking at the wisteria flowering across the water. “I’d imagine you’ve heard of Hattori Heiji.”

Now Kaito was confused. Yes, of course he had heard of Tantei-kun’s friend, but non-sequiturs weren’t exactly Hakuba’s style. It was one of the things he appreciated about the KID-focused detective over some of the others he saw- Hakuba was significantly better at walking people through his thinking, keeping himself from skipping over the deductive process that would otherwise look like leaps of logic to the usual police officer or bystander.

“Uh, bit out of left field, but yeah? I’ve heard of him.”

“I had an encounter with him shortly before the school year started.” Hakuba began, not looking at Kaito. “I was invited to be a part of a TV special pitting various high school detectives against each other in a deduction battle. Hattori-kun and myself were two of the four detectives invited and we immediately did not get along. I thought that he was impulsive, hot-blooded and careless in his methods and did not hesitate to tell him so. He responded about as well as you would expect.”

Kaito rolled his eyes as Hakuba paused. “Sounds like I would get along well with this guy.” There was a small huff beside him that might have been a laugh. “I’m guessing that you lost, since I haven’t heard anything about this program before?”

“The program was a lie. The whole thing was a setup by one of the other detectives to identify the person she believed to be responsible for her friend’s death.” Kaito frowned, starting to get an idea of where this was going. “’The Lavender Mansion Case’. This detective’s friend had been the maid there and was implicated in a case wherein one of the mansion’s owners had hung herself. Another detective had come by and used faulty deduction to implicate the maid, leading her to suicide. The fake program was to find said detective and… punish him.”

Kaito winced. A suicide confused as a murder that had lead someone else to murder in turn. There wasn’t any question about what had brought that particular case to Hakuba’s mind- the similarities to that night were all too easy to see. Although….

“What does Hattori have to do with that?”

Hakuba deflated at the question and when he spoke his voice was noticeably quieter. “Any time there was an indication that someone may be in danger Hattori-kun did not hesitate to try and reach them as quickly as possible, whatever the potential repercussions. He put the possibility of protecting someone ahead of everything else, regardless of whether it was realistic. I….” He paused. “I can’t help but think that, had I been more like him, I could have prevented this.”

Kaito snorted, finally managing to draw Hakuba’s attention from the tree across the pond. “Um, no. Pretty sure that’s not how that works.” He chuckled grimly at Hakuba’s confused glare. “Don’t get me wrong, I hate death as much as the next guy and I would be thrilled if we could change what happened tonight, but we can’t.” His smile shrunk, letting some of his sadness into his face. “We can’t turn back the past and we can’t see the future and so we can’t beat ourselves up over that. You did what you could.”

Hakuba looked at him for a moment before his face shifted back into the familiar smug smirk that Kaito was used to seeing at school and KID heists. “I must say Kuroba-kun, I wasn’t aware you were capable of such complex emotional insight.”

“Well one of us had to be.” Kaito turned on his heel, grinning at Hakuba’s offended huff. “Now, if you’re done with your moping, can we go? If I go to school tomorrow with bags under my eyes I’m blaming you.”

He heard Hakuba mutter something along the lines of “your own fault” and midnight heists before the detectives footsteps started behind his own. Kaito pushed down the genuine smile that asked to be allowed on his face. With this unexpected bonding moment over it was back to being awkward rivals pulled together by Aoko’s desire to have her friends be friends.

Kaito certainly wasn’t going to be the one to let her know it was working.


End file.
